The best-known lyrics are the repeated line "nu mă, nu mă iei" from the chorus, hence the name "Numa Numa song". "Numă, nu mă iei" (literally "no me, no me take") is typically translated as "you won't take me". The full chorus, which also includes the title of the song, runs:

The song was written and composed by Dan Bălan, and the original version was sung by Bălan, Arsenie Todiraş, and Radu Sârbu. The single was first released in 2003 in Romania, where the group lived and produced at that time, and in the spring of 2004 in most other European countries, where it became a summer hit. In as late as 2006, the song was still in the lower reaches of some Eastern European singles charts.

O-Zone's version was the most popular across Europe, with the exception of Italy, where it was only known by discogoers.[citation needed] A cover version of the song performed by the Romanian singer Haiducii, who released the song in Europe around the same time, was more popular in Italy and Sweden (it reached #1 in the singles charts).

"Dragostea din tei" has also inspired a number of parody videos distributed over the Internet, most notably Gary Brolsma's popular "Numa Numa Dance" video in 2004. The "Numa Numa Dance", which first appeared on the flash site Newgrounds.com, has become so notable that it has sparked numerous parodies of the video itself in the United States over the years since 2004.[5]

Overall, the single reached number one in over 27 countries and went on to sell upwards of 8 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.[6]

The American release of DiscO-Zone features an English version of the song performed by Dan Bălan and Lucas Prata. This version focuses on the "It's me, Picasso" lyric from the original to provide a theme of an artist who has lost his muse. Bălan and Prata performed the English recording of "Dragostea din tei" entitled Ma Ya Hi on The Today Show on February 22, 2005. Unlike the original recording, however, this version was not as successful, charting at 72 on the Billboard Charts.

A cover version by Haiducii, with a strong dance impact, was charted at the same time as the original version by O-Zone. Although it had a great success in many countries, including Sweden, Austria and Italy, where it topped the chart, it was less successful than O-Zone's version. Haiducii was later sued by O-Zone for copyright infringement, since she had neither obtained permission from O-Zone to record the single nor given due credit to Dan Bălan for being the original writer of the song.[citation needed]

A spoof of the song was released by the Romanian metal band Trooper under the name of "Zorzon", as a bonus track on one of their albums.

In Spain, the comedy duo "Los Morancos" made a spoof version called Marica tú (queer you), also sometimes referred to as "pluma pluma gay" (literally "feather feather gay", meaning "sissy sissy gay"), which contained several references to homosexuality. It became popular in many clubs across Hispanic America.[54]

In South Korea, Hyun Young, a Korean model/actress/singer, released a Korean version of the song, titled "누나의 꿈" (Nuna-ui Kkum; eng. Sister's Dream) which ranked among the top on various Korean charts in March 2006, within weeks from release.[56] The song preserves the “ma-ia-hii” and “nu mă, nu mă iei” choruses from the original; however, while the “ma-ia-hii” does not carry any meaning, but is merely used as a rhythmic interjection, the "nu mă iei" is approximated as "누나의" (nuna-ui, often pronounced nuna-e), which means "elder sister's".[57] "Nuna" is also an affectionate title a Korean man calls a woman who is older than he is. The lyrics of Sister's Dream are about a romance between a younger man and an older woman.

In Japan, Gille sampled the "ma-ia-hii" chorus for her debut single "Girls".[58]

A Japanese version of the song was released by comedian Maeda Ken on August 24, 2005 under the artist name Maeken Trance Project (his drag alter-ego), titled "Koi no Buchiage Tengoku: Koi no Maiahi~Chihuahua~Banzai [2]"(恋のブチアゲ 天国：恋のマイアヒ～チワワ～バンザイ, "Love's High Tension Paradise: Love's Maiahi~Chihuahua~Hurrah"), fusing the original song with popular Japanese Eurobeat song Banzai and part of the 2002 ad Coca-Cola commercial-related hit by DJ Bobo titled "Chihuahua". It should be noted that although this is a Japanese release, the "Dragostea din tei" section of the medley is sung in Romanian.

On November 11, 2005 another Japanese version under the same title "Koi no Maiahi" was released on the compilation album of Avex record label artists "Girl's Box ~Best Hits Compilation Winter~" (AVCD-17769) by the singers Hasebe Yu (長谷部優) from girlgroup "dream", Iwasaki Mai (岩崎舞), and Takimoto Miori (瀧本美織) both from girlgroup "SweetS". [3] The group also did a nectar, kamehama-honey and crystal remix of this song.

In Brazil, the singer Latino created his own version of "Dragostea din tei". Called "Festa no Apê" (Party at the Apartment), talking about a party (held by the singer himself) that became wild. The song resembles "Dragostea din tei" only in rhythm and melody.[61]